Fall enrollment at Sam Houston State University is a record 13,424 students,
an increase of 346, or 2.65 percent, over last fall's figures.

Especially encouraging was an increase of 187 beginning freshmen
over the number that enrolled last fall, an 11.45 percent
increase.

"We're very excited and pleased with the new record," said
Joey Chandler, director of admissions/recruiting. "Everyone
on campus should be commended for their work in this behalf.
It was truly a campus community effort."

Chandler said that her staff worked especially hard to contact counselors to
let them know about SHSU programs and in following up with students to encourage
them to complete the admissions process.

She said she believes the new Bearkat Village housing south of Bowers Stadium
was also an important factor in the increases.

Larry Gilbert, biology and zoology professor and director of the Brackenridge
Field Laboratory at the University of Texas, will be the distinguished lecturer
for the department of biological sciences on Sept. 18.

A pioneer in the concept of co-evolution, Gilbert used the relationship of butterflies
and their host plants to show that the evolution of one species causes the evolution
of another, according to Jerry Cook, SHSU assistant professor of entomology,
anatomy and physiology.

“Larry Gilbert is one of the rare scientists that is an expert in several
fields,” Cook said. “Dr. Gilbert has directed research on several
different groups of plants including the passion vines, rainforest cucumber species,
and piper plants. In a completely different area of research, Dr. Gilbert
has been a pioneer in using phorid flies as biological control agents of fire
ants.”

Within UT, Gilbert has led several students in conducting research on a variety
of topics on social insects and Lepidoptera, the class that includes moths and
butterflies, in which Gilbert is considered
an expert.

“Larry Gilbert has had a very active research and teaching program at the
University of Texas,” Cook said. “While at U.T. he has had over 30
students finish a Ph.D. under his guidance and currently is mentoring seven more
Ph.D. students. Many of his students have become leading experts.”

Gilbert will speak about the ‘Coevolution in a Tropical Food Web’ at
7 p.m. in Lee Drain Building Room 214.

Program Council will be celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month beginning Monday
with Ole!, a kickoff rally in the Lowman Student Center Mall Area. PC will be
distributing cake, refreshments and T-shirts and will have a mariachi band performing
at 11 a.m. to celebrate heritage month, which runs from Sept. 15 through Oct.
16.

On Sept. 24, Vincent Ramos, former president of the Texas chapter of the League
of United Latin American Citizens, will speak on advancing the economic condition,
educational attainment, political influence, and the health and civil rights
of the Hispanic population of the U.S. The event, sponsored by the SAM Center,
Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority, Inc., Omega Delta Phi Fraternity, Inc., the
Elliott T. Bowers honor program and PC, will be held at 5 p.m. in the Olson Auditorium,
located in Academic Building IV.

That night, PC and Sigma Lambda Gamma National Sorority, Inc., will be showing “Frida,” as
part of movie night, at 7 p.m. in the LSC Theater.

On Oct. 1, the International Hispanic Association will co-sponsor a Hispanic
Faculty and Staff Mixer, at 4:30 p.m. in Lowman Student Center Room 320.

Winding up the celebration, PC and Kappa Delta Chi Sorority, Inc., will cool
everyone down on Oct. 13 with ‘Mi Gente Esta Caliente! Free Snow Cones.’ The
treats will be served beginning at 11 a.m. in the LSC Mall Area.

For more information on Hispanic Heritage Month or any of the events planned,
call Program Council at 936.294.1763.

The Writing Center will be offering 11 workshops throughout the fall semester
to help students.

“The Writing Center offers workshops to supplement the one-on-one tutoring
by providing information on particular types of writing or writing issues that
we hope are of interest to a group of students,” said Writing Center
director Diane Dowdey.

In September, the center will host the workshops ‘From Idea to Thesis’,
on Sept. 24 at noon; and ‘Resources for ESL Students’ on Sept.
29 at 10 a.m.

In October, the Writing Center will host ‘Avoiding the Plagiarism Plague,’ on
Oct. 2 at 9 a.m.; ‘Don’t Get Bit by the Internet: Correctly Quoting
and Citing Internet Sources In the Sciences/Social Sciences,’ on Oct. 6
at noon; ‘Using Other People’s Words: How to Quote Effectively,’ on
Oct 8 at 1 p.m.; and ‘Don’t Get Bit by the Internet: Correctly Quoting
and Citing Internet Sources In the Humanities,’ on Oct. 8 at 5 p.m.

The Outdoor Recreation program of the department of Recreational Sports will
be giving students, faculty and staff a taste of the great outdoors with two
events during September.

On Sept. 22, outdoor recreations will sponsor the Lake Raven Canoe and Kayak
I, to be held from 6-9:30 p.m. at Huntsville State Park. Participants will meet
at the Outdoor
Equipment Rental Building.

“It’s an event for people to get out in the evening, usually going
into dark with just a little bit of guidance, and get out on the water and paddle
on either two person canoes or one person sit-on-top kayaks,” said Marvin
Seale, associate director of outdoor recreation. “It’s appropriate
for beginners, because we try to stay within sight, if not sound, of each other
to make sure no one strays.”

The cost is $5 for students, $7 for faculty and staff, and $9 for guests, which
includes transportation, canoes and kayaks, water and sports drinks will be provided.
Participants are asked to bring a light, clothes and shoes that can get wet,
a towel and insect repellant.

There are only 12 spots available, and those interested are asked to sign up
before 5 p.m. on Sept. 19.

There will also be a Trail Running Workshop on Sept. 30, from 5:30-8 p.m. Participants
will meet at the Outdoor Equipment Rental Building to discuss shoes and clothing,
training, upcoming races and local trails before departing for the Lone
Star
Trail to run or walk.

“The Lone Star Trail is just a nice section that a lot of people don’t
even know about that offers an alternative, and a free alternative, to the park,” Seale
said.

Transportation for the free event will be available for up to 10 and water and
sports drinks will be provided. The deadline to sign up is 5 p.m. on Sept. 30.

For more information on these, or any, outdoor recreation activities, contact
Seale at 936.294.3656 or at seale@shsu.edu.

Approximately 85 companies are tentatively scheduled to be on hand for the
Fall 2003 Career Expo, sponsored by Career Services. The expo will be held
on Sept. 17, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum.

Current students and alumni from all academic backgrounds seeking full-time jobs
or internships are welcome to attend. All attendees are encouraged to dress professionally
and bring copies of his/her resume.

Some companies scheduled to attend include both state and national departments;
police departments from the Austin, Dallas and Houston areas; CenterPoint Energy;
banks from across the state; Houston Independent School District; Cingular Wireless;
Universal Computer Systems, Inc.; and TNT USA, Inc.

For more information, for resume assistance or to get a complete list of scheduled
companies, contact Career Services at 936.294.1713 or visit their Web
site.

The
4th Annual Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Accomplishments
will
be held Sept. 16 in the Lowman Student Center. Presentations will be displayed
in the atrium, art gallery and the lobby of the LSC from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

“The exhibition will include photos, posters, a slide show, paintings,
sculptures and other displays,” said Mary Plishker, associate dean for
the College of Arts and Sciences and associate professor of
chemistry. “These projects generally represent work done as an independent
study under the direction of one or more faculty members outside the typical
class, usually for credit.”

The university exhibition, open to any undergraduate who wants to present his/her
work, will recognize the efforts of more than 40 undergraduate students over
the past year.

Faculty, staff and students are encouraged to come view the outstanding
accomplishments of undergraduate students.

Program Council will give the student body a bit of comic relief on Friday with
comedian Dan Levy appearing at the Lowman Student Center Kat Klub at 8 p.m. as
part of the P.C. ComicView.

Twenty-one year old Levy started his career in comedy at the age of 15 as
half of a two-man comedy team “The Teenage Comics,” which landed a development
deal with Nickelodeon for the television special “And Now This” two
years later. More recently, he has been a feature performer on MTV’s “Andy
Dick Show.”

His high energy, off-beat sense of humor, impeccable timing and outlandish
physical comedy have earned him the title of “funniest college comedian in the country” by
HBO at the 2001 U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colo., and earned him a spot
as a semi-finalist in
Comedy Central’s 2002 Laugh Riots comedy competition.

Sitts, a personal development coach and owner of It Doesn’t Take a Therapist,
a Magnolia-based company, will help participants explore and improve basic
life skills and communication.

The 2002 graduate said she attended SHSU with the goal of designing this program
after 15 years of business management and five years in radio broadcasting
as radio personality Sheryl Vaughan on Houston’s MIX 96.5 FM, where she
spoke with callers about their lives and relationships. She is also working
on a book,
by the same name, based upon the workshop.

“I continually encountered people in both professional and personal situations
who lacked the essential skills they needed to succeed: goal setting, time management,
money management, communication, and conflict resolution,” Sitts said. “I
became passionate about going back to school, and then doing workshops to help
people develop these skills and lead more fulfilling lives.”

The cost of the workshop is $75. For more information, contact the continuing
education department at 936.294.3701 or visit Sitts’ Web site.

For the third consecutive year, the Delta Theta chapter of Kappa Delta Pi
education honor society will receive the Achieving Chapter Excellence Award
at the organization’s
biannual convocation, to be held in November in St. Louis.

The ACE Award is an award that is given to chapters who qualify under five preset
standards: recognition of excellence, meeting society ideals, professional practices,
leadership development, and fellowship. This year 31 chapters qualified to receive
the award.

"The Sam Kappa Delta Pi chapter has always been an active one,” said Kappa
Delta Pi counselor Laverne Warner. “Headquarters began recognizing superior
chapters about eight years ago, and I'm happy to report that our chapter did
very little to change its activities and structure to qualify for the ACE Award."

Chapter president Leigh Richburg, vice president Jennifer Vaughn and Warner will
represent the chapter at the convocation, where the three will do a presentation
on the Project Approach, attend workshops, hear education speakers and attend
social events.

The Delta Theta chapter has approximately 45 members. Members must be education
majors with at least a 3.0 grade point average, have at least 48 credit hours
and one semester at SHSU, must fill out an application that is reviewed by the
three counselors and must take a test about the society.